RDJ's contract expires after "Iron Man 3" I believe. If Marvel Studios wants to use him for future films after next year they will have to negotiate again, and as we already know, that sometimes doesn't quite work out.

I don't think he'd be crazy to walk away from the role. He'll have done four movies (plus a cameo in The Incredible Hulk so five which is I believe full filling his five picture deal now) after "Iron Man 3" so as much as he might be grateful for the role reviving his career, he might want to move on to other things. It'll be interesting to see. I can't see him leaving though. He could sign a new two or three picture deal or something or have some kind of appearance clause included.

RDJ's agent would be in a pretty strong negotiating position for Avengers 2, I think. I can easily see Marvel being somewhat generous but making it part of a three-movie package including Avengers 3 and Iron Man 4. After that, maybe they'll do a semi-reboot. Lowe might have made a good choice but that ship has sailed as he'd be in his fifties by then. Wouldn't bet against Colin Farrell.

Whatever role he's in, Farrell always looks grubby and seedy to me, I couldn't buy him as Tony Stark. I also couldn't buy the idea that he was a genius, the suspension of disbelief would be too high for me.

Without spoiling it too much for those who may want to read it one day. What exactly made it so crazy? I'm kind of curious.

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OSC re-wrote Tony's origin so that he was a weird-ass freaky experiment-gone wrong with brain tissue through his whole body, so he was literaly a walking brain and he was in constant pain and had to be coated in this weird blue 'armour' paint to avoid feeling pain and he could regrow his limbs like *#&$ing Wolverine.

it totally contradicted the origin Brian Bendis wrote for Ultimate Stark in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up and didn't really add anything to the character.

Whatever role he's in, Farrell always looks grubby and seedy to me, I couldn't buy him as Tony Stark. I also couldn't buy the idea that he was a genius, the suspension of disbelief would be too high for me.

to be honest, i'd think he'd be crazy to break away from this... the Iron Man series has given him a new lease on his career... i think he should stick with it for as long as they want him

M

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It's a little disingenuous to say that Iron Man rejuvenated Downey, Jr.'s career. He got wide praise for his work in The Singing Detective in 2003 (really, he was the only thing about that movie that received any praise), and A Scanner Darkly, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and especially Zodiac had him at the point where he could pick and choose his roles, well before Iron Man. His Marvel work has definitely increased his profile somewhat (though I'd point more to getting an Oscar nomination for Tropic Thunder as being the high point), but his career was already back on track no later than 2006. It's not like Pulp Fiction rescuing John Travolta from being an obscure joke in 1994.

^ He got praise for all of those movies, but he wasn't the sort of name to put bums on seats and that's the bottom (no pun intended) line in Hollywood. I yield to few in my love for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang but he, Val Kilmer and Shane Black all got great acclaim for the role but little else. Black has made no movies since, while Kilmer is hardly a box office draw.

It's not true to say he could pick and choose his roles as a result - he had to audition for Iron Man and there were all sorts of insurance conditions arising from his drug history. No, he may not have been in the John Travolta career graveyard but nor was this a case of the studio chasing him for the role the way they chased Chris Evans.

Meanwhile RDJ has expressed his own views about remaining in the role:

"I would really hate for someone else to think they could step into my shoes. I wonder who's playing Tony Stark next.… I know things are looking like that they could go on for a long while. As usual in my book, it's all about quality control and delivering a product that you can have this kind of reaction to. If they keep doing that, maybe I'll keep showing up" says the actor.

I yield to few in my love for A Scanner Darkly, and RDJ was the best thing about that film. But it was a financial failure, partly because they just didn't get it in enough theaters ( for example, a grand total of 1 in the entire Philadelphia area, same thing in Vegas ).